On the first episode of Inside the San Francisco 49ers, Bay Area News Group’s Courtney Cronin and Cam Inman dive deep in the Niners quarterback competition and whether Colin Kaepernick will receive his first exhibition start vs. the Packers. As that competition wages on into Week 3 of the preseason, so do several position battles along the offensive line, most notably at right tackle with Trent Brown and Anthony Davis. Where will Chip Kelly play Davis on Friday after he received first team reps at right guard in practice? The answers to these questions and more are discussed on Part 1 of the series debut.

San Francisco 49ers’ Anthony Davis (76) is expected to see his first game action at right guard Friday night against Green Bay. 2016. (Josie Lepe/Bay Area News Group)

SANTA CLARA _ It appears part of the plan for the third preseason game could include Anthony Davis playing right guard.

As the 49ers began their team session Tuesday, Davis was lining up with the first team at that position alongside right tackle Trent Brown. Davis made his debut at right guard for eight snaps during a joint practice last week with the Denver Broncos.

The 49ers host the Green Bay Packers Friday night at Levi’s Stadium.

Davis, a former first round draft pick and starter at right tackle, sat out last season and has impressed the coaches with willingness to work his way up the depth chart upon his return.

“Anthony’s been fine,” offensive coordinator Curtis Modkins said. “He’s been fine in every aspect _ practice, meetings. With him, it’s a deal of him being comfortable. So we’ll try and get him more (work) and we’ll see where he’s at. No decision’s been made yet . . . the more positions they can play, the better for us.”

Toward that end, left guard Zane Beadles has gotten some work at center of late. Rookie first-round pick Joshua Garnett was getting first-team reps at left guard Tuesday.

— Although it may seem inevitable that Blaine Gabbert will ultimately be named the starting quarterback, Modkins said the 49ers want to see Colin Kaepernick in game action before coach Chip Kelly makes a final decision.

“It’s a competition and Kap hsn’t had a chance to perform yet,” Modkins said. “When that happens and when coach feels like it’s time, we’ll do that. But right now, it’s not time. We’ve still got a ways to go before we play.”

Gabbert, who completed 6 of 9 passes for 69 yards against Denver, received high marks from Modkins.

“I was pleased with what he did,” Modkins said. “He got the team moving. I think Blaine’s done a good job. He’s been accurate with the ball. All our quarteracks have.”

— Linebacker NaVorrro Bowman was back at practice after sitting out Monday’s session.

— The 49ers signed former Stanford wide receiver Ryan Whalen to a contract and safety Jered Bell was waived/injured.

Whalen (6-1, 200) played three seasons with the Cincinnati Bengals, playing in 17 games and catching 11 passes for 80 yards. He spent training camp last season with the Minnesota Vikings before being released.

A sixth-round draft pick, Whalen played at Monte Vista High in Danville. He caught 140 passes for 1,884 yards and seven touchdowns in four seasons with the Cardinal.

— In addressing the 49ers issues with ball security, Modkins relayed a personal story from his days as a running back at Texas Christian.

“We were playing University of Arkansas. We were up 21-0,” Modkins said. “I tried to jump over somebody and hit the top of Barry Switzer’s son. I flipped over, fumbled, got the ball the next series, fumbled again and they ended up winning.

“They told me if I ever did it again, I’d never play again. That was my tip. So I fixed it. I didn’t jump over anybody anymore.'”

Colin Kaepernick’s comeback from arm fatigue saw him return to practice Monday and stay on track for an exhibition-season debut Friday against the Green Bay Packers, a franchise he’s beaten twice in the playoffs.

Jimmie Ward has performed so well in the 49ers exhibitions and joint practices that he’s solidifying his bid to start at cornerback with Tramaine Brock, defensive coordinator Jim O’Neil said Monday. Continue Reading →

“We’ll see how it goes once he starts throwing,” Kelly said in a conference call with 49ers beat writers. “We’ll see how it progresses.”

What makes Kaepernick’s return interesting is the 49ers got solid play out of sixth-round draft pick Jeff Driskel as well as Christian Ponder, who practiced for the first time Wednesday.

Blaine Gabbert, the odds-on favorite to start on Sept. 11 against the Los Angeles Rams, completed 6 of 9 passes for 69 yards, Driskel followed and went 6 of 7 for 66 yards, and Ponder was 7 of 8 for 86 yards.

The only sack came against Driskel.

In all, 49ers quarterbacks were 19 of 24 for 221 yards and one touchdown, a 30-yard pass from Ponder to Dres Anderson.

“I thought our quarterbacks were very accurate and did a nice job not throwing a pick,” Kelly said. “I thought we protected the quarterbacks for the most part.”

With Kelly unsure of Kaepernick’s level of involvement during practice, he wasn’t ready to commit to a breakdown of how much the quarterbacks will play when the 49ers host the Green Bay Packers Saturday night at Levi’s Stadium.

Gabbert is expected to start, and depending on how the game plays out, could go into the third quarter, depending on the number of snaps the first team gets.

“It really just depends on how the game goes,” Kelly said. “Sometimes you want to get `X’ amount of snaps. If you don’t get enough in the first half, you may continue in the third. Sometimes you get enough in the first and second quarter and you’ll sub them out in the second quarter.”

Through two games, Gabbert has yet to be sacked or throw an interception.

“It’s so crucial to avoid sacks, whatever you can do to get the ball out,” Gabbert said following the game. “Sacks are a big momentum builder for the other team. Anything you can do to get the ball out of your hands quick and get the ball into your receiver’s hands is going to help this offense run smoothly.”

While the quarterbacks have been for the most part taken care of the ball, the 49ers lost three more fumbles (and recovered two of their own) against Denver to go along with two in the preseason opener against Houston.

Running back Mike Davis lost two fumbles against the Broncos, as did DeJuan Harris. Carlos Hyde and quarterback Thad Lewis lost fumbles against Houston.

Ball security is stressed daily by running backs coach Tom Rathman, and Kelly said there is no clear pattern to the fumbling issues.

“Unfortunately there’s no common thread where you can say, `Let’s fix it,’ ” Kelly said. “Part of being a good player on the offensive side of the ball is you’ve got to be able to secure the football, and that’s all taken in to effect as we put this team together.”

— Outside linebacker Marcus Rush stood out with his three sacks, as did defensive tackle Garrison Smith, who had a sack, five tackles (four unassisted) in 39 snaps.

“There were a lot of other standouts, but those two from a productions standpoint kind of jumped off when we were watching the tape flying home,” Kelly said. “They were around the ball a lot, causing disruption with Denver’s offense.”

— Running back Shaun Draughn did not play with Denver after because of a rib injury sustained during the practice sessions with the Broncos. He is expected to practice this week.

— Kelly had no report on the condition of wide receiver Bryce Treggs (knee).

— The battle to play inside linebacker alongside NaVorro Bowman remains a three-man race between Gerald Hodges, Ray-Ray Armstrong and Michael Wilhoite, and Kelly said all three “have done some really nice things . . . it’s a positive situation for us.”

San Francisco 49ers’ Anthony Davis (76) is photographed on the sidelines against the Houston Texans in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s exhibition game. (Josie Lepe/Bay Area News Group)

In an intriguing twist for the 49ers offensive line Thursday, Anthony Davis moonlighted away from right tackle and lined up at right guard for the first time since his freshman year at Rutgers a decade ago. Continue Reading →